LAST week I wrote about what I saw as a dangerous mistake by the appeals panel when they overturned, on appeal, a red card for a tackle by West Ham’s Cheikhou Kouyate, which could have seriously injured his opponent. 

What’s not always appreciated is that referees may now also appeal following a change to the rules in 2013.

Previously to that, if a referee showed a yellow card and it should have been red, or if he saw an incident and decided to take no action, his decision had to stand. 

Many people might remember the incident when Ben Thatcher knocked Pedro Mendes unconscious with his elbow to the head. 

Dermot Gallagher, who now comments brilliantly on other referees decisions on Sky, was the referee and from his position, thought it was a reckless challenge and only gave Thatcher a yellow card. 

The FA couldn’t overturn the yellow card but the challenge was so violent they charged Thatcher separately with bringing the game into disrepute and banned him for eight matches.

It was obvious something had to be done and now a referee can appeal if he is unsure about his decision and he can put in his match report any incident not seen but later reported to him. 

And of course any incidents not seen by the referee can still be picked out by the FA for post-match scrutiny, and the panel can consider acts of violent conduct which are secondary to the challenge for the ball. 

This means whether or not the referee has seen the incident, and even if he has taken some disciplinary action, a player may still be charged retrospectively.

Unlike the appeal panel for red card which is made up of ex-players, this panel consists of three former elite referees. 

It’s a pity UEFA Champions League doesn’t have the same policy, for surely Real Madrid’s Marcelo, who disgracefully kicked an opponent and then pretended he had been head butted, would have been suspended.